


You Have Captured My Fragile Heart

by Imnonarcissist



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, Disney, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Friendship/Love, Hey I apologize for my writing, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, M/M, Minor Angst, Movie: Descendants (2015), slight bullying, slow burn?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-04-25 09:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14375469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imnonarcissist/pseuds/Imnonarcissist
Summary: Evie fell in love with the person she least expected to fall for.That's right, her bully.Mal on the other hand felt stupid for catching feelings for a certain blunette.Yep, the one that she's bullying.(Originally wanted this to be a one shot but I kind of wanted to expand a few things)(High school / Modern-ish au)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever contribution to this wonderful fandom. I hope you all enjoy this story. I would also love to receive criticism.

Evie lifted her gaze from her notebook and focused on the written words at the board that was in front of her. She particularly wasn't the type of girl who didn't pay attention to her classes. But now she was being distracted as her thoughts were being clouded by the people who tormented her every sing day. 

She couldn't care less about them but she was worried. Scared even. But one thing she knows is that she needed to avoid them. 

Specifically, she needed to avoid a girl with stunning purple hair who also had a sarcastic attitude. 

Evie shook her head and mentally slapped herself, thinking that she wasn't in the right state of mind. Besides, why would she think of them at this time of day? Why would she be thinking about her too? They were nothing but bad business. 

And they were all nothing but a bunch of self centered jerks. 

The bell finally rings and the teacher sighs. She turns around and faces the students saying that they were free to go. Everyone else was ecstatic as they packed their things for lunch. Some of them exited the classroom without even minding to pack their stuff, while others went and talked with their group of friends.

Evie gathered her notebooks and stuffed it inside her bag, arranging them. Although she was hungry, she wasn't really looking forward to eat lunch since she knows that she'll have to face Harry, Gil, Uma, and Mal. 

Evie rolled her eyes and finally stood up, leaving her seat. She let her mind drift onto other things but was startled as she met face to face with two familiar boys.

Luckily it wasn't Gil and Harry. 

"Hey Evie! Do you want to sit with us during lunch?" Carlos asked with his beaming smile. Jay on the other hand was eager to hear Evie's answer. They haven't actually hung out in a long time after all. 

"I'm sorry boys, but I have to say no," Evie said as she faked a frown. Deep inside she knew that if she agreed to eat with Jay and Carlos, Mal and her gang might eventually find them at the cafeteria and disturb them.

Evie knew better than to get her closest friends involved into this.  
Besides, Jay and Carlos don't know about Evie's situation and she wants to keep it that way. She wasn't really in the mood to explain or open up about her emotions and problems. She tends to bottle it all up until she just

Snaps.

Jay raised his brow and it was clear to Evie that both of them needed answers. Just a few months ago the three of them were basically inseparable but just after a few weeks, Evie started to drift away. 

Once she did finally had time to hang out with them, she was observing their surroundings almost as if she knew that someone was going to pounce on them. 

She flinched when Carlos attempted to tap her shoulder but Evie brushed it off, quickly saying that she was just a bit jumpy after finishing up a horror movie. 

But both the boys knew that Evie didn't have the willpower to watch or even finish horror movies. She avoided every single horror movie that she comes across, so Jay was a bit surprised when he heard those words coming out from her mouth. 

"Oh..." Carlos let out a disappointed sigh, and Jay merely gave him a pat on the back.

"It's cool Evie. Maybe tomorrow then?" 

"Sorry Jay, I have this big project coming up and the deadline is next week! I'm going to be packed with work." Evie explained as she tried to act normal. 

That project was a lie though. 

"Well uh..." Carlos paused for a second then continued, "When are you free?" 

She just wanted to get this over with.

Evie was about to answer Carlos when she heard them. She froze and was basically glued to the floor as realization slowly crept up on her.

She peeked over Jay's shoulder and saw them right there laughing 'maniacally'. 

Evie internally cussed to herself. Of course those jerks were waiting for her. They always were. 

She then shrugged at Carlos and without even a warning she says a quick goodbye, and walks pass them as if nothing happened just 10 seconds ago. 

As Evie turned around the corner disappearing into the crowd of students, both Jay and Carlos glanced at each other with puzzled looks, seemingly confused about what happened. 

Evie on the other hand kept walking. She fastened her pace and didn't even bother to say sorry as she bumped into other people unnecessarily. 

She stopped right in front of the library doors. She exhaled slowly and clasped her hands together not even noticing that they were shaking. She shakes her head once more and pushes against the doors,entering the humongous library. 

She didn't mind skipping lunch just to hang out here anyway.

Ever since her being 'bullied' became a daily thing, she found comfort in the library. It was like her happy place too. Soon after, Evie realized that those jerks would never find her here since they weren't really the type of people to read and gush about books. 

Sometimes she would even skip some of her classes just to spend half of her day here. Sure it was getting in the way of her academics and grades but she didn't mind

And today was one of those days when she decided to skip class. 

She later on found a good spot that was secluded from everyone else. It was her regular spot. She was surrounded with unusually large bookshelves, but she didn't mind since she eventually got used to them after a few weeks time.

She drummed her fingers and stared off somewhere else. She was glad that she could finally have peace and quiet again. As long as those jerks didn't find her. 

Evie wasn't really too fond of doing their homework since she had better things to do, like finishing her own homework and not theirs.

After eventually calming down, she took out her valuables and notebooks from out of her bag and started to do her homework for Chemistry. She couldn't believe that just right after her first class, they were already given homework.

She doesn't normally brag--

Wait no scratch that, she used to brag a lot about her looks and abilities back in the old days. 

Now going back, she likes Chemistry a lot and isn't shy to show off her intellect whenever she got the chance to do so. Some of her classmates were confused, shocked even! They didn't really think that Evie would have a knack for Chemistry especially with all the shady rumors about her. 

Evie knew better of course. She wouldn't listen to false rumors because they aren't true at all.

She knew better than to listen to the sneers and whispers around her.

She knew better than to listen to those people who called her a whore.

She knew better than to mind her classmates who thought that she was dumb

She knew better than to listen to--

Ah

The tip of her pencil had snapped. 

She gave out an exasperated sigh and felt her eyes sting. She didn't really want to cry right now. 

_______________

She gave a quick glance to the clock and saw that it was getting pretty late. She stood up from her chair and closed the book that she was reading. Her hands glazed over the front cover of the book. She couldn't wait to know what happens next in the new chapter. She'll have find out tomorrow since it was still a school week.

She carried the book over to the nearby bookshelf and placed it exactly where it was before and walked away. She went back to her table and shouldered her bag. 

She waved goodbye to the librarian who was nice enough to let her stay for a few more minutes. 

As she got out of the library, she hummed to herself and walked idly down the halls. She finally reached the school's doors and excitedly exited. She breathed in the fresh air and admired the nice and beautiful sunset. 

A cool breeze swept by and Evie could only contentedly sigh. She finally felt at peace.

Until the moment was ruined. 

"Hey there princess," Evie knew that Scottish accent anywhere. She whipped her head and saw that the gang was just standing a few feet ahead from her with disappointed expressions that were displayed on their faces. 

"You think that you could just get away that easily?" Uma's voice rang and Evie found it hard not to keep her legs from shaking. 

She kept her cool though and decided to not make eye contact with any of the people that was in front of her right now. 

"Aww are you scared?" Gil taunted but only got a jab to his chest coming from Harry. Gil shot Harry a glare and rubbed his own chest, soothing the pain. 

"Dont get too cocky with us princess." Mal spoke with malice evident in her voice. She proceeded to walk towards Evie as the poor blunette could only brace herself to the things that were about to occur. 

Mal stopped her tracks and faced Evie who was a bit dazed. She noticed that she was also avoiding eye contact so she flicked her fingers right in front of Evie's face. 

Evie didn't really have any other choice. She then decided to turn her attention to the purple haired girl who was smaller then her. 

She had to admit, Mal has a small built and she was a bit skinny but she could kick you in the ass without any hesitation. If her looks could kill, then a lot of people would probably be dead by now, including Evie. 

Mal jabbed her finger to Evie's shoulder and gave the blunette a wicked smirk as she chewed on her gum. "Listen princess, we--" she gestured over to Uma and the others, "Have been looking for you. And guess what? We're packed with homework and we thought we'd just give it to you! How about that?" Mal stated and faked a smile at Evie

She knew Evie wouldn't say no. Without waiting for her approval, which she didn't really care about, Mal snapped her fingers signalling for Gil. The blond then perked up and Evie now only noticed that he was carrying books and a few notebooks. Evie assumed that the books all belonged to them.

He then comes forward and just drops the books on the cold pavement and left it there. Mal gave a low chuckle and Evie suddenly felt her spine tingle. 

Uma circled Evie like she was some sort of fresh meat. "Meet us up at the school's courtyard tomorrow. 7 am. Sharp," Her tone went dark and Evie knew Uma wasn't kidding when it came into matters like this.

Harry from the other end just repeatedly said 'tick tock' as he pointed at his wrist watch, his eyes flickering with amusement.

Soon enough Mal walked away as Gil, Harry, and Uma followed after her. 

Once the coast was clear, Evie brought up her hand to the shoulder in which Mal had just recently jabbed on. She was sure that it was going to bruise. She later on bent down to pick up the books and notebooks that were just lying on the floor before her. 

 

When she stood up, she pressed the books tightly to her chest and could only groan in frustration.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Won't be updating this in a few days since I have seminars to attend djfjfj

When Evie got home, she couldn't have been anymore happier. Once she had closed their front door, she threw her bag across the living room and was glad that it landed on the couch. 

She whined to herself and made her way to the stairs, her bedroom in mind so she could start finishing up the homeworks of her tormentors. As she ascended her way up, she got startled and almost lost her balance due to a loud clang that came from somewhere in the house. She let out huff and was glad that she had held onto the railing of the staircase. 

She made her way downstairs and peaked over to the kitchen, only to be surprised to see her own mother picking up a pan and a few other utensils. 

"Mom, what are you doing?" Evie questioned and was clearly confused with what her mother was up to. The older woman then turned around to face her daughter, "I'm attempting to cook something different for tonight," she stated and placed her hands on her hips. 

"We can always just order." Evie said and gestured over to their telephone that was only a few inches away from them. Her mother wasn't having any of it though, and instead walked over to their fridge and shuffled around to find anything edible to eat or cook. 

"I know that you're sick and tired of eating take out every day, Evie," Her mother commented while looking away from her, and Evie didn't want to argue back since her mother was right about that. "I guess I am," She quietly admitted and only received a chuckle from her mom. 

After a few seconds of silence between the two Grimhilde's, Evie eventually decides to slowly walk away from her mother as she made her way up the stairs again. She couldn't help but overhear her mother shouting, "Even though we do eat shitty and fatty foods, please be cautious of your weight!" 

Ah, of course she will. She always has and always will. When she was a child her mother had always told her that she should be the epitome of perfection and beauty but again, Evie knew better. 

Alas, the poor blunette could only really follow or listen to her mother's rules and complaints about her weight and appearance. Now, she was just glad that things have changed for the better. Her very own mother had been less harsh and more careful with her words. 

Although there were a few outbursts here and there, everything was going quite swell with the both of them. 

Once she entered her room, she immediately plopped herself onto her bed without missing a beat. She stretched her limbs and gave out a loud yawn as she let the softness of her bed consume her. Her eyes felt tired but fought back the feeling of fatigue as she remembered about the work that she was still supposed to do. 

After fifteen minutes of mindlessly staring at the ceiling, she stood up and her feet met in contact with the cold floor. She shuddered but wore her fluffy slippers on as she dragged her feet around her room. 

She needed to find her bag.

After a few more useless minutes of wandering around her bedroom, she was pretty sure that she had already checked every corner-- 

Oh.

She had tossed it earlier in the living room when she had just gotten home. 

Evie mentally face palmed. If Jay and Carlos knew about this, those two boys would've already joshed at her stupidity. 

Well not really, but still. 

She unknowingly grumbles.

This was going to be a long night. 

The next day, Evie woke up with her hair all tangled up with split ends and her clothes crumpled. She squinted her eyes to let it adjust to her bright surroundings. She then looked to her right to check on the time and it's as if time itself stopped. Her heart was hammering through her chest as her jaw slowly dropped. 

It was 6:15 am. 

She then threw herself from out of her covers and dashed towards her bathroom. Since she just woke up, she still felt woozy and had trouble with her balance. 

Thoughts just swirled around her head as she looked at herself in front of the mirror.

It was going to take sometime to pamper herself. She gripped down the sides of the sink and took a closer look at herself before noticing that she looked like a huge mess.

She didn't even know if she had enough time to put her makeup on, or choose a good shirt to wear from her wardrobe for today. 

She hastily shook her head and focused her mind on much more important things that she still needed to do. 

After taking a quick shower, she slid across her room and instantly went to her closet to snatch some of her clothes. She simply yanked a midnight blue shirt from one of the hangers, and got herself some navy blue jeans. 

When she put those on, she quickly made her way to her study table to get her favorite leather jacket that was hanging from the chair. 

Of course, she didn't forget about the thick books and notebooks that were still placed on her table. She packed all her stuff away, not even minding to arrange her supplies in her bag that she had gotten back from last night.

Before she got out of her room, she wore her comfortable sneakers on and shifted the doorknob to the right to open the door. 

As she ran downstairs she took a quick turn and walked towards the kitchen. She nearly suffocated though when she had smelled the aroma of burnt toast. She was sure that it had to be burnt toast. 

"Ah, I'm glad you're all dressed up! I was pretty sure that you weren't going to school." Her mother said while handing her a small plate that had burnt toast on it. 

Evie didn't have any choice but to snatch it away from the plate. She didn't have time to explain to her mother so she instead just ran towards the door and faced her mom, giving her a flying kiss as a goodbye of some sorts. 

As Evie ran down her neighborhood, her eyes locked onto her wrist watch and saw that she only had 3 minutes left until it was 7:00 am. The walking distance from her home to her school only took about 5 to 6 minutes depending on how slow she walked. 

But now she was running really fast thanks to the advantage of her long legs. 

Evie then imagined her mom scolding her for not being ladylike, since she was running like some sort of hooligan. 

But she had other important things in mind. Like Harry, the ruthless yet endearing boy who had too much eyeliner for his own good. Gil, who simply just stuck around with the others because he really had nothing else better to do. Uma, the loud yet cocky girl with an attitude that should be fixed. And finally, Mal. 

Mal, who didn't know what personal space was. 

Mal, who didn't care about your thoughts about her.

Mal, who surprisingly had good grades that she can maintain along with their snarky attitude. 

Mal, who makes fun others just for the sake of satisfaction.

And finally, Mal, who had and will always have this seething hatred for a brown eyed girl named Evie. 

Evie just didn't understand. 

Well,

She couldn't understand on why Mal had always hated her from the start.  
When they were little it started with harmless teasing but turned into two girls who despised each other.

When they were in middle school, it started with Mal not wanting to share seats with Evie but turned into Mal switching seats since she couldn't bare the thought of being seat mates with the blunette.

Evie's hatred of the green eyed girl died down, yet why did Mal still have this grudge upon the fashion loving girl named Evie? 

Now they had finished their first and second year of high school and they're finally on their third year. She was already a Junior and she's still star struck that she has managed to survive high school for this long.

In the first year of studying at Auradon High School, Mal had met with Uma, Gil, and Harry.

Evie on the other hand, blended in with the crowd but was lucky enough to meet Carlos and Jay halfway through their second semester in their first year. Those two boys were too sweet and kind since they had supported Evie with some of her thoughts and decisions. 

The three of them had to admit that the semester system was clearly making all high school students suffer with all of the stress and work that needed to be done. 

Once Evie had stepped onto the school grounds, her mind thought of many stupid yet oblivious things.

Like the fact that she may or may not be late,

Uma being angry with her for being tardy,

Their school's courtyard,

How her legs cramped after all that running,

And again, Uma being angry with her for being being tardy.

Evie almost wanted to return home at this point even though she knew that she couldn't. 

She literally urged herself to walk across the courtyard, slowly smiling in relief as she saw a figure up ahead. Her backpack was killing her thanks to its heaviness. 

Interally, she was pretty sure that she had just dirtied up her favourite sneakers too. 

When she had gotten closer, she didn't really expect to see him. 

"G'day princess!" Harry surprisingly greeted the poor exhausted girl, giving her a sarcastic pout. He was currently sitting on this old creaky bench. 

Evie stopped her tracks, slightly tilting her chin up in confidence.  
"Harry." she plainly nodded at him, simply acknowledging his presence.  
Harry hummed in amusement as he eyed her from head to toe and Evie almost wanted to puke right then and there. She gulped then awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Where are the other's?" She asked, looking around to see if Uma, Mal, and Gil were messing with her. She heard the bench creak again, so she immediately turned her attention towards Harry who now motioned her to come closer. 

She took a few steps forward. 

"Now why would that be of your concern dearie?" Harry teased, a smirk slowly forming on his face.

Evie wanted to sneer at him. She really did. But she didn't have the guts to do so. So instead she just gave him a shrug and began talking, "I was just wondering because whenever we do meet ups at times like this you all are usually here."

Harry stood up from the bench and pinched the bridge of his nose looking frustrated, "Just give me our books and I'm done with you. I didn't even know why I agreed with Mal to do this," 

Evie raised her brow at him, and reached for her bag from behind her back. She took out the books together with the notebooks, and handed it over to Harry who had his arm extended. 

"They ditched this meet up because they wanted to eat at McDonald's. They asked me to meet you here  and surprisingly, they didn't ask Gil like they always do." He explained as he took the books and notebooks from Evie's grasp. 

"Oh," 

"You better eat lunch with us for today though. It's Mal's orders,"

'Oh shit-'

Before Evie could say anything else, Harry had already turned his back on her and began to walk away while whistling a familiar tune. 

__________________________

Evie wished that lunch time didn't come by so quickly. She pursed her lips together and entered the rowdy cafeteria. Once she had smelled the stench of mixed aroma in the room, she definitely wanted to run back out. 

Who could even stand this horrible place? It was too loud for Evie's own liking. And besides, the food here's terrible 

She went to one of the lines and picked a tray up. 

"What's on the menu today?" She hears someone speak in front of her and notices that it was one of her classmates named Ben. They weren't really that close but they had gotten to know each other back then. She had also been partnered up with him countless of times in their Chemistry class. They're not friends to say at least. 

They were just acquaintances. Evie had to admit though, Ben was charming and charismatic in some ways. She would've fallen head over heals for him in no time flat. But Evie knew that he truly wasn't the right person for her. 

"Just the regular," The older man behind the counter replied, his voice hoarse. He served him their main dish and kindly asked Ben to move along. 

Once it was Evie's turn, she kept her mouth shut and forcefully tried to keep a straight face as the food was placed on her tray. It was mushy and sloppy but she could work with this. 

Maybe. 

She gets out of the line and looks around the whole cafeteria to find-

"Hey, it's Evie!" She hears someone exclaim. She finds the source of the voice and was not surprised to see Gil waving at her. 

She didn't think twice before strutting her way at Mal and her crew's very own table. Once Evie sat down, she positioned herself self comfortably and placed her tray down on the table. 

"Glad you could join us," Mal started, eyes piercing directly at Evie.

Evie didn't even notice that she was sitting just right across one of the most scariest girls in this school. 

Just like what she did with her encounter with Mal before, Evie decides to avoid looking at Mal's hypnotic yet alluring eyes


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me so long to finish AaAaaAaa. The seminars that I attended were wack.

The brown-eyed girl kept her eyes glued to her food and poked it around for a few times. She wasn't really looking forward to eating lunch with them at this time of day. Evie knew that if she wasn't preoccupied with Mal and her crew right now, her nose would've been buried under books while she ate silently outside of the school grounds. 

But unfortunately, she is currently surrounded by this tense yet awkward atmosphere around her. 

Gil who sat beside Mal was just simply gobbling up all of his food and Evie worried that the poor boy might accidentally choke if he doesn't chew his food properly.

Harry from the other end of the table was silently minding his own business, his nose wrinkling as he tried not to show his disgusted expression when he took a mouthful of food that the cafeteria served.

Meanwhile, Uma who basically sat on the same bench as Evie's and was only a few inches away from the blunette kept humming a song. She tapped her fingers on the beat, slightly bopping her head. 

Mal, on the other hand, ate silently, cautiously stealing glances at the girl who was in front of her. She tried her best to suppress her chuckles when she had seen Evie occasionally stabbing her food, suddenly realizing that Mal kept looking at her whenever she got the chance to. 

The silence was slowly killing the frustrated blunette as each minute passed. Evie wasn't the type of girl who grew very impatient that quickly, but now she just really wanted to escape to Neverland or somewhere else where it's secluded or quiet. 

Like the library. 

She was in the mood to finally finish that good adventure novel that she found two months ago when she was roaming around the library all by herself. She stumbled across the book over by these sturdy and tall shelves. The front cover of the book caught her attention, displaying the three main characters with fierce expressions plastered on their faces.

She thought that it was a horror book at first, just noticing the ominous creature that was right behind the three teens on the cover. She turned the book over and read the summary, seemingly intrigued by it. 

She got hooked after reading the first chapter. An hour had already passed by and the blunette was nearly at chapter four skimming through the pages as she finally reached the three main character's conflict. 

The book was thick so she knew that this was going to be such a long read. 

"Are you going to finish that?" A muffled voice asked. 

Evie jolts up and looks over to the source of the voice. It was none other than Gil who had his mouth full of his food, fork pointing over to Evie's tray. He quirks his eyebrows up, still eyeing her food. 

"No, you can take it." She said pushing her tray over to the blond. She wasn't really hungry right now since she lost her appetite by just sitting on a bench at this rowdy cafeteria with her tormentors just right by her. 

"Man! What did I do to deserve this?" Gil exclaimed in excitement, reaching out for Evie's tray, but sadly his hand was slapped harshly by a certain someone. 

"Ow!" Gil winced and held his hand which badly stung. 

"You've already eaten everything you dolt. Let the Grimhilde eat." Mal scolded which actually surprised the blunette. 

"B-But I'm hungry!" Gil continued to contradict Mal, both of them starting to argue. 

She gave the green-eyed girl a questioning look, obviously still in shock. Did Mal care about her eating? That's quite new for her. But before she could ponder any further she came to the conclusion that maybe they needed something from her. 

It was no doubt. 

Maybe they wanted the blunette to finish this really important group project. Or maybe they want to use her money for buying supplies that were constantly needed during some classes. Or they might also probably need her for an abundance of work. 

She hated all of this but none of it really mattered because, by the end of the day, she'll just repeat the cycle of her suffering at this school once more. 

Evie pinched herself.

She was merely a tool. 

Why did she let herself be used like this? 

Pathetic. 

Back when she was forced to eat with them during freshman year, they always insulted her by the way she ate. Her elbows pointing upwards, seemingly outstretched. She was tense and anxious which made her eat in a slightly different manner. They even went as far as to insult about her weight and appearance which was a very sensitive topic for Evie. 

She couldn't dare to forget about those spiteful words that her mother used to scream at her from the top of her lungs. 

She couldn't forget about those sleepless nights of gazing at herself in the mirror, noting every imperfection or flaw that she could see in herself. 

She couldn't forget about starving herself for her own mother's approval of her. 

But that will forever stay in the past. 

With all of the mistakes and faults that her mother did to her, Evie still forgave her because to Evie, she knows damn well that people deserve a second chance to redeem themselves with their wrongdoings.  
Some wounds and relationships heal thanks to the presence of love and compassion. It changes and molds you into this different person. Love sure is strange as it empowers all that is living and breathing. 

The brown-eyed girl raised her head up and looked at each and every one of the people who she was sitting with. 

They all had problems of their own too. Uma struggles with helping her mom and dad with their company, as they are now currently financially struggling. She is also a rather lonely girl who lacks a parental figure, for her parents are always busy with their work. 

Gil is a neglected child who always craves for attention whenever he gets a chance. He doesn't really have anything else better to do so he just sticks with Mal and the others. 

Harry isn't really open to the group so Evie had little to no idea of what's happening with him. But she knew about his bruises that were mildly evident on his arms and sometimes his face. 

Mal is just straight up mysterious. Usually, the blunette would immediately notice the pain or expressive emotions in one's eyes, but Mal kept this unbreakable exterior around her which made her hard to read. 

Evie was sure of one thing though,

They all lacked the feeling of being loved. 

"Eat up," Uma commands, urging the blunette to eat.

Evie hesitantly took a mouthful of the 'food' that she had been served with. The taste wasn't that bad, but it definitely wasn't that edible either.  
Either way, she minded her own business once more and decided to eat

_____________________

 

The blunette hastily rummaged inside her locker, trying to find her supplies and other books that were important for the next class. Eventually, she found all of the textbooks that she desperately needed. She slams her locker shut, causing a loud bang to echo throughout the hallway. 

She proceeds to walk fast, hearing her sneakers squeak with each step she took. It was slightly annoying her. But before she could even turn around the corner, she felt someone taking her hand, as she was yanked back. She didn't get to look at the mysterious person who dragged her away farther from her next class. 

She hears a door creaking open, her heart beating loudly wondering what could Mal or Harry want for her to do now. She then gets shoved inside to what she assumed it to be the janitors closet. 

It was dark and quiet as it reeked of bleach and other detergents or cleaning supplies. 

"What do you want now?" Evie complained but shut herself up because she was afraid of what might happen next. 

She hears a faint clicking noise when the room suddenly lights up, revealing the person who just randomly whisked her away. 

It was Jay. 

She sighs in relief. 

"Evie, thank god you're in here!" 

And Carlos? 

She turns around and nearly jumps, as the curly-haired boy bounces up to wrap his arms around Evie's body. She gasps and slowly relaxes to the hug. 

"W-What's going on?" Evie asks, stuttering. 

Jay gives her a stern and worried look, "Why are you with them again?" 

She releases herself from Carlos' grasp. She faces the taller boy and decides to play dumb. 

"With who?"

"You know who I'm talking about." 

"Is it about the guy from Chemistry class? Because I swear I don't really like him. He's sweet and all but I'm pretty sure both of you know that he isn't really my type. I'm not even looking forward to having a relationship with anyone right now, so please stop assuming that I--"

"Why are you with those jerks?!" 

Evie's rambling gets cut off and closes her mouth instead to stop sputtering out any more words. Jay doesn't normally scream when he's this frustrated or angry. 

"It's nothing to worry about, Jay." Evie manages to let those words come out of her mouth. 

"They are nothing but bad business," Jay says softly, placing his right hand on Evie's shoulder. 

Carlos then proceeds to hold the troubled girl's hand to comfort her. Her eyes are now glued to the floor, feeling the guilt overwhelming her. "You can open up to us if you want to," he murmurs. 

The blunette nearly wanted to throw up out of nervousness. 

Revealing her secrets or even attempting to open up about her feelings to other people is just really hard for her to talk about. Jay and Carlos are probably the best of friends that she has ever gotten in the past sixteen years of being her alive, but she's not quite sure if she's confident enough to just spill anything yet. 

She's especially not sure if they are ready to know about her connections with Mal, Uma, Harry, and Gil. 

"I've seen you with them before but now it's just really irritating," Jay then continues to mention of days when Evie would randomly just disappear or run away from the two boys. 

He even stated the fact that he and Carlos have been cautiously watching the blunette from afar whenever they had seen her with either Uma or Mal in the hallways. 

He, of course, didn't forget to spill about them catching Evie having lunch with the most wicked group of friends ever just earlier. 

"Have you guys been stalking me?" She questions out of nowhere.

"It's for research purposes." Carlos pipes up, squeezing the girl's hand. 

She reluctantly nods at his choice of words. 

"He means that it's for your safety,"

A long pause occurs.

"I- Uh yeah. That's what I meant." The smaller boy scratches his nape.

"Look." Jay removes his hand from Evie's shoulder, "We just want to know what's going on. We've seen you with them back in freshman and sophomore year, but now you've been frequently following them around this new school year so it's giving us bad vibes,"

The helpless girl shudders out a breath, struggling to regain her composure. "I have to do what they say, Jay." She says, raising her head up just a little bit more to stare directly into the taller boy who was in front of her.

"If I don't they might..."

"They might what?" Jay was eager to hear Evie's answer.

And yet another pause occurs. 

"Hurt me." Evie ends her sentence with tears starting to appear in the corners of her eyes, as a lump begins to form in her throat. 

Carlos' eyes grew bigger and quickly glanced over by Jay's direction, noticing that the boy is now fuming with rage. "Babe, calm down." He lets go of Evie's hand and decides to comfort his distraught lover by reaching up to his face, his left hand caressing his cheeks almost by instinct. 

Jay leans in and basically melts into his touch, taking deep and shallow breaths. The two of them were chanting something about counting numbers, and the brown-eyed girl assumed that it was a mantra for Jay to eventually calm down. 

Evie turns her back from the both of the boys who were having their moment. She felt hot tears starting to stream down her face, so she wipes them away using her hand. 

She couldn't help but worry about her makeup being smudged and she just feels really stupid because why in the hell is she worried about her makeup in this kind of situation. 

After Jay eventually calms down with the help of Carlos, he walks past by the smaller boy and moves his way across the uncomfortably small room to Evie, who's gripping the sides of her stomach tightly. 

"They won't get away with this. I'm not letting them,"

"I-It's fine really!" 

"I'm serious,"

"Look. It's fine I can handle this myself." She crosses her arms, and the boy in front of him rolls his eyes, "They hurt you! You think I'll just let that slide?" He throws his hands up in the hair, starting to grow frustrated. 

"I am perfectly okay,"

"You're lying,"

"What?"

"You're lying again," 

Minutes pass and yet they still continue to fight, while Carlos is just watching them as he sits on this cardboard box which probably had more cleaning supplies in it. Both of their voices starting to get louder by each second. 

"No more hiding. I'm sick and tired of you being so secretive with us,"

"That's the point, I can't! I'm scared that they are going to--"

"Get us involved with all of this? Trust me I can take down Harry and Gil. I can basically defeat an entire army." Jay suddenly boasts, flexing his arms as he shows it off to Evie who just scrunched her nose. 

"I'm not scared to fight them too!" Carlos butts in, throwing himself off of the cardboard box that he was sitting on then does a random fighting stance.

Evie shakes her head. "It's not that easy you guys,"

"Then stop being so secretive and actually start to tell us what's wrong." The long-haired boy crosses his arms, tapping his foot impatiently. 

"You're being really pushy about this,"

"It's kind of my business since you're my friend,"

"No, you're just being nosy,"

"Well, it's my job to be nosy," 

Evie whines, balling her fists up in anger. She's honestly in the mood to punch a wall right now. These boys are just being so persistent and it's ticking the blunette off. 

"You're angry," Jay acknowledges.

"Very," Evie simply says. 

Carlos laughs in the background causing two heads to turn to his direction. "It always ends up like this whenever we argue and it's mildly amusing." He begins to wheeze uncontrollably. 

The brown-eyed girls let out a huff, suppressing her blush because he was right about their arguments ending up like this way. It starts with the shouting and the lashing out but ends up with short, mean, and funny comments that never fails to make the younger boy laugh out loud. 

"Let's get back with the arguing." Jay coughs, interrupting Carlos' laughter as he groans to himself while pinching the bridge of his nose. He puts his hands together and simply just looks at Evie. 

"Tell us everything and start by the beginning," 

Evie can just lie about her connections with Mal and her crew. She can get away with it then they could pretend that this argument never happened at all. 

"Don't even think about lying. I know your scheming face," 

"What scheming face?" The blunette  
asks innocently. 

"You're doing it right now. Your eyes are squinting really hard and you're giving me a nasty look." Jay waves his hand in front of the girl's face. 

"Damn it," She whispers. So much for the attempting to lie and escape. She gives out a loud sigh, why did she have to be such an open book? Her fingers then start to tug on the hem of her shirt anxiously. 

Jay raises his brow at her, "C'mon speak up,"

And so she did. 

She started off by telling them about how it all started during freshman year here at Auradon High School. 

How it all kickstarted with mindless and harmless teasing but ended up being a lot worse than it should've been.  Evie also explained of the purple haired girl's everlasting hatred of her that was present ever since they were kids. 

She rambled on and on about some of the horrible things that were done to her by the past year. With all of the shoving and pushing against lockers, doing their school work, the crazy meet-ups that were held early in the morning, all of the harsh words that she always received from them, her money running out just so that she could buy things for them. And so on and so forth. 

She then continued to vent her feelings, saying them loud and clear. And to the boys, it seemed like she wasn't planning on stopping. 

Jay, on the other hand, felt really foolish. 

How could he and Carlos not confront her any sooner? 

He knew about Evie hanging out with Mal's crew since freshman year but why is he now only seeking answers? 

He failed with his promise. 

He failed with protecting his friend. 

He failed to look after her. 

He bites his inner cheek, silently vowing that he won't ever let another mess like this happen again. He feels Carlos intertwining their hands together, almost like he knew what the older boy is thinking. 

He wasn't alone on this.

They are going to help Evie together.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly focused with Jay and Carlos' relation ship with Evie. 
> 
> Malvie next chapter? Malvie next chapter.

A door slowly opens, slightly creaking as the sound echoes throughout the empty and silent hallway. Three heads pop out of the janitors closet, cautiously looking to the left side of the corridor, then to the right. They all sigh in relief noticing that there weren't any hall monitors or other teachers roaming around the area that they were in.

Carlos nearly stumbles as he steps out of the room first. He was vouched to go out since he was practically small and not really noticeable unlike the two tall _'giants'_  
who are behind him, still hiding inside.

He squints his eyes, looking around once more just to make sure that the coast is clear. He takes out his phone from out of his pocket, checking to see the time.

3:47 pm

The classes have only recently started, so he figured that all of the students were now probably listening to some boring lecture in their classrooms. 

He tucks his phone back to pocket then looks back at his two friends, making direct eye contact with Jay. He swiftly moves his hands up, his fingers and arms doing fast movements which made the taller boy confused.

' _What?'_ Jay's mouths.

Carlos flails his arms again, continuing to do unusual arm motions. He was hoping that the both of them would understand what he was doing.

Evie tilts her head in confusion and simply looks at him like he grew a second head.

Carlos smacks himself in the face. "I was signaling you guys that it's already safe to come out,"

Jay and Evie let out a huff simultaneously. "You're just a few feet away. And we have ears, you could've just told us." Jay whispered which made the smaller boy pout.

"Skipping class is like a dangerous _mission._ We have to be really stealthy and quick when it comes to times like these. What if someone catches us because we're too loud? And besides can you even--" Carlos continued with his rambling, going on and on about someone possibly seeing them, then jumps to another topic about spies and sneaky ninjas. Evie, on the other hand, swore that she heard Jay mumble 'dork' under his breath while looking adoringly at Carlos.

The brown-eyed girl was proud with the both of them. She still couldn't forget the day when she hung out at Jay's house because the boys needed help with their Physics project. That was the day when she unraveled some secrets about the two.

It was already very late and she also had a bad day since she assisted Mal's crew in the afternoon with their homework.

After the whole meet up with Mal all she thought about was how soft and comforting her bed might be but that moment was ruined when suddenly, Jay and Carlos showed up out of nowhere and pleaded  
for her to help them with something.

She couldn't say no.

She _can't_ say no.

Evie had the inability to say _no._

Nevertheless, she ended up at Jay's house aiding them with their Physics project as papers, notes, pens, and markers scattered all over the place. The blunette only really hoped that her mother hasn't overthought as to where her daughter was.

Eventually, they decided to take a fifteen-minute break.

Evie was drowsy and she only really wanted to sleep but she also knew that her friends needed her for a few hours.

Oh, the suffering.

Her vision was blurring but she tried her best staying awake. It was as if she was a helpless drunk girl. They did the work in the living room because it was the most spacious place in the house. Evie was awkwardly sitting on this old couch beside Jay who was fiddling with his phone, probably playing games. She changed different sitting positions, desperately trying to be comfortable. She gave up later on and decided to just sit straight up, even though her back was killing her.

Carlos, who was in the kitchen getting some food, just randomly shouted the word _'Babe'_ out of nowhere and Jay meekly responded with a _'Yeah?'_.

Evie who was both physically and mentally drained, processed the word _'babe'_ for five seconds as she stared at her notebook with dull eyes. She instead scratched her head, her mind unable to comprehend the ticking noise coming from an old antique wall clock that was hanging just across the room.

She had a hard time keeping her drowsy eyes open. "You both have nicknames for each other? Why don't I get a nickname? Am I not special??" She slurred out her words. Jay suddenly freaked out, his eyes widening after just realizing what Carlos had called him. How could he forget about the blunette beside her?

"Wait, holy shi-"

Evie faced Jay, silencing him by pressing her index finger upon his lips. "Is this friendship even real?" She asked him with a tone that Jay couldn't really decipher. He was sure Evie wasn't in her right state of mind and was obviously exhausted.

Let's just say that they had to explain everything to the worn out blunette who was still dazed.

Jay clears his throat, bringing her back to reality.

"After you."

He makes way for the blunette to step out of the room first, giving her a gesture to go ahead. Evie gives Jay a pat on the back as a sign of 'thanks'. She immediately gets out of the bleach-scented room which was making her quite dizzy.

She couldn't stand the mixed odor of different kinds of detergents and bleach. Sure it smelled very nice, but when you're exposed to strong fragrances for too long it just makes you lightheaded.

"M'lady." Evie snorts, seeing Carlos pretending to tip an imaginary fedora. She couldn't help but bow acting as if she was royalty herself. She had always dreamed of being a princess that everybody loved. She yearned for a big and enchanting castle with a prince who would just swoop her away from her feat, riding on this beautiful white horse as they traveled to a far and peaceful land. Of course, she had to wake up and move on from that silly dream. It was only a childish fantasy that she could never have and achieve anyway.

Jay closed the janitors closet, doing it as quietly as possible but when the door shut, it made a loud click which made the three teens cringe.

"Shut the door quieter next time?"

"All doors make a clicking sound,"

"I know but you weren't even trying being stealthy,"

"Oh please, stealth is my middle name,"

"Lies. I know who you are--"

Before the two boys could even go on with their conversation, their exchange got interrupted with Evie snapping her fingers. "Guys, let's go."

And so, Carlos and Jay's bickering stopped. They jokingly gave each other a nasty look before walking along with Evie.

They chatted with each other as they ventured down the deserted hallway, wondering which place they could stay in. Carlos suggested that they should all be returning to their classes but stopped midway on his sentence before realizing that the teachers here were really strict. If they were late to their classes or even if they were caught skipping, they would surely end up in detention.

"Nevermind, I don't want to go back to detention," Carlos said, shivering at the thought of being stuck in that room filled with terrifying and rude people. He wasn't in the mood for meeting Chad.

"You got into detention?" Evie asks, stunned by his statement. She knew Carlos always avoided trouble and used words rather than fists whenever he got himself in danger.

Jay is the total opposite of him. That boy just can't control himself when he's arguing with someone else. He does try his best suppressing his urge to use his fists, thanks to Carlos. Those two just balance each other.

Jay scratches the back of his neck. "It was kinda my fault. There was this fight about three weeks ago and these guys kept on harassing this girl. I just had to stop it you know? It started with just talking but ended up with hands against each other's necks."

Carlos hummed. "Mhm, and I had to stop Jay but I was punched in the gut by this random guy."

"That dude that punched you deserved a beating, so I gave him one. I did it for you and that girl." The taller boy explains, a grin slowly starting to appear on his face.

"Thanks." Carlos thanks him sarcastically while rolling his eyes. 

"But anyway." Jay stops abruptly as he cracks his knuckles, "Some teachers came and stopped the commotion. Before Carlos and I could even explain what happened, the staff threw us in detention together with those assholes."

"Mind your language," Evie scolded.

Jay shrugged, not even frightened with Evie's tone of voice. "But after the talk, we had with Principle Adam, the both of us were still _not_ free to go."

"You fought back, that's still against school rules."

"It was for the greater good?"

"You literally punched three guys and caused them to have bruises and wounds."

"I got beaten and battered too!" Jay states, quickly pointing to some of his small scars on his arms that had already healed. He then had to stop walking just to roll up his pants, showing a rather large bruise on his leg which was still healing. Evie gasps at the sight of his bruise.

"Ew." Is what she could only really say. Three weeks had already passed, so why is his bruise not perfectly healed yet?

Jay grumbles, deciding to roll his pants back down. "As I said, it was for the greater good."

Carlos rolls his eyes once more. "Sure,"

Jay then begins to take off his red beanie, ruffling his hair in the process to straighten out his brown locks. "At least the girl is okay. What was her name again?" He asks, still focusing on his hair.

"Jane," Carlos replies.

Evie pipes up. "Doesn't her mom teach history here?"

"Oh yeah!" Jay puts his beanie back on, "You know, I always thought that having a teacher as your mom who basically teaches at the same school as yours can let you gain more friends and make you so intimidating to talk to."

"Fake friends actually," Carlos mutters. Carlos had to think because having a teacher as your mom who teaches at the same school as yours is both a privilege and burden.

"I mean then again, I wouldn't be intimidated by Jane either. I get that she's labeled as one of the 'Good Kids'." Jay says doing air quotes at the same time.

Carlos nods in agreement. "Her mom must've given her strict dress codes. Do you see what she wears? Definitely one of the good kids."

"I don't know... I like her style," Evie mentions how Jane's dresses always manage to catch her attention whenever they cross paths in the corridors. She admitted that she liked her color scheme and fashion sense, but also couldn't help but babble about how she could do a few changes to Jane's clothes and dresses. She might add a bit more edge to her style and maybe even accompany it with leather. Although Jane does look like the type of girl who prefers silk and cotton. Ah, the numerous possibilities.

"...Anyway," Carlos rolls up his long sleeves, noticing that the atmosphere became too hot for his own liking. "Spending two hours of my life inside that detention room was hellish." The smaller boy nearly shouted but clasped his hands on his mouth, realizing that someone could've heard them. "Sorry. Almost blew our cover." He apologized.

"Yeah but I gotta say, punching those dudes were worth it. My muscles felt less tense after that. It was kinda exciting." Jay stretches his arms, flexing them afterward. He certainly still loves to boast about his muscles. He says that it was exhilarating when he felt the sudden urge of adrenaline when his fists came in contact with the person he was fighting against.

Carlos stifles his laugh, "You should've seen him, Evie." His eyes practically sparkling, lifting his gaze up to admire Jay. To Carlos, everything that had happened during that fight was all simply a blur. To him, the world was spinning too fast at that moment. One thing that he still remembers from when everything became too stressful and chaotic was how he felt this excruciating pain coming from his stomach. But amidst the whole situation, he couldn't take his eyes off of Jay who was kicking ass like it was nobody's business.

One moment they were fighting off with these people, and then the next thing you know, they all end up in detention.

"Yeah, I wish I did."

Evie sighs to herself. "I- Uh, didn't even know that a fight occurred last three weeks ago. And most importantly, I didn't even know that you guys got in trouble."

It was true. She was too caught up in other things which made her distance herself with both of her friends who deeply mean a lot to her. She handled herself well during these past years, but now she's just all over the place. 

Evie was either stuck with Mal,

Or with Uma.

She dislikes being with them both

Although she hangs around with Gil and Harry a lot, she mostly gets to  
stick with both of the girls since Mal orders so. She's honestly only really with them because of Mal and Uma just _love_ to ruin her mood.

But there were moments when Mal wasn't surprisingly harsh around her. There were moments when Uma was actually speaking softly to her. There were moments when Mal helped the blunette when she needed assistance with carrying some materials and supplies for this dumb school project.

There was even a moment when Harry and Gil gave her extra pens she had lost her own.

But their kindness never lasted. They were still those mean and wicked people that Evie knew of.

She stops walking.

"...I'm sorry."

Carlos and Jay whip their heads in unison, looking at Evie with worried expressions plastered on both of their faces.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you guys any sooner. And I am _so_ sorry for avoiding the both of you for these past few months. I can't believe that I even did that. You two are the best friends that anyone would be grateful to have." She spoke with sincerity evident in her voice.

Both Jay and Carlos came closer to the girl telling her that it was alright when it really wasn't.

She shouldn't have kept running away from her problems.

She shouldn't have been such a coward.

She shouldn't have let herself be used.

Carlos holds her hand, squeezing it as if he was telling her that he and Jay were there for her. Jay places his arm around Evie's shoulder and smiles warmly at her.

"It's okay,"

"Just take it slow,"

"We're here for you okay?"

"You don't have to worry anymore,"

"If they bother you again, I'm going to beat their asses,"

"And I'm going to have to stop Jay from possibly committing homicide..."

"Shut up."

Jay quickly removes his arm around the brown-eyed girl's shoulder and proceeded to pounce on the powerless smaller boy by messing up with his hair, while Carlos, on the other hand, struggles to escape from Jay's tight grasp.

Carlos playfully punches Jay on his chest then manages to place his hands on the taller boys mouth, reminding him to stay quiet realizing that they have to keep a low profile.

Evie giggles at the sight but freezes when Carlos and Jay look at her with mischevious glints in their eyes.

Without any warning, she gets hugged by them both. She gasps in shock as her whole body tensed up, later on finding it hard to breathe since she was basically getting crushed. She soon melts into the embrace, finding herself hugging back as she had only one thought in her mind.

"No more secrets." 

 

____________________________

  
Mal growls as she slams her fists on the table. She hadn't seen that fashion loving blunette since Lunchtime and she's getting quite frustrated and impatient. They were currently outside, staying at the school's courtyard where it had wooden benches and tables around the area.

Gil gives her a friendly pat on the back. "She'll be here, Mally." He adds the childish nickname at the end of his sentence which made Mal flinch.

She looks at him with her usual menacing glare. "Don't," she snarls but Gil wasn't at least disturbed by her at all. He has been hanging with Mal for a long time now, meaning that he was used to her attitude and tendencies.

Same for Harry and Uma. 

"Relax." Harry chimes in, dusting off his sleeves and pants.

Uma rolls her eyes and crosses her arms at the same time, "I'm tired of waiting. Let's just talk to her tomorrow " She gives out and loud yawn which made Mal's eyes twitch in annoyance.

"No, we have to wait."

Gil groans. "Why are you so obsessed with her?"

A book hits him on his face.

"Ouch!" Gil shrieks as the book that he was hit with fell to the ground. He rubs his nose almost by instinct, trying to soothe the unbearable pain. Harry and Uma cackle at Gil's reaction while Mal just scoffed as she returned to drumming her fingers on the table, waiting to see that blue haired girl come out of those school doors at any moment now.

"I'm not."

She _wasn't_ obsessed with that silly girl in the slightest.

No,

She _despised_ her.

Mal had always been irritated with Evie ever since they were tiny and confused kids.

And she knew that the feeling was mutual between the two of them.

She jolts, her eyes narrowing hearing the doors bust open, but the person who came outside was unfortunately not Evie.

It was Doug.

If Mal could recall she knows that Doug and Evie talk in Chemistry class, probably always geeking about the periodic elements,  compounds, and some composition of atoms.

Mal cups her hand around her mouth then calls out for the boy. "Hey!" Doug looks around, studying his surroundings before finally spotting Mal and her crew at this table. His shoulders dropped and he goes to them anyway, waiting for another chore or errand for him to do.

He also is one of the students who is being terrorized by her crew. He tries to fake a smile as he stood his ground, avoiding the three other intimidating teens who're staring right at him.

"You're friends with Evie right?" Mal asked which peeked the boy's interest. What would they want from Evie? He scratches his nape before speaking. "I would rather call us acquaintances"

"Just get it over with," Uma then begins to wear her backpack, adjusting its straps. Harry does the same thing as he waits for Doug's to answer Mal's question correctly.

Doug fixes the position of his glasses. "...We talk."

The purple haired girl waves her hand dismissively before murmuring _'whatever'_ under her breath.

Gil plops down to sit just right beside Mal, placing his hand under his chin. "Mallory here was just wondering if you've seen Evie lingering around the campus. Not sure if she's obsessed or something" He confidently says without missing a beat.

Doug raises his brow in curiosity.

If Mal could only kill Gil right there and then--

"I did actually," Doug says which made the green-eyed girl's thoughts of killing the blond who is sitting right beside her stop. Doug continues, "I saw her leave earlier with her friends."

Uma's mouth gapes open.

Harry frowns.

Gil's eyes widened in astonishment.

Mal clicked her tongue. "Damn her."


End file.
